Putting sweet potatoes and chipotle peppers in tamales may be a new twist, but give it a try and you might agree that this filling does plenty of justice to the five-thousand-year-old Latin American tamales tradition. The word �tamales� is plural for tamal; in other words, there is no such thing at one tamale!

If you don�t have a steamer, chances are you can cobble something together. A pasta pot works beautifully, and so does a large stockpot with a colander nested inside.

Recipe

For the tamales wrappers:

3 ounces dried corn shucks, soaked at least 2 hours in hot tap water, plus extra to line steamer


For the filling:

3 sweet potatoes,
2 or 3 chipotles, diced

Bake sweet potatoes at 375 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick goes through with no resistance. Remove peel when cool enough to handle. Mash peeled sweet potatoes and mix with diced chipotles.


For the tamales dough:

3 cups masa harina (flour for corn tortillas)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup lard or solid shortening
3 cups chicken broth

Mix the masa harina, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. In another medium bowl, with a wooden spoon or electric mixer, beat shortening until creamy. Add the masa mixture and broth, beating until the dough is soft and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed.

Assembling the tamales:

For each tamale, place one drained corn husk lengthwise, pointed side at the bottom, on a work surface.
Spread with about two tablespoons of masa (approximately a one-inch ball of dough), leaving a border of one inch at the top and sides and three inches at the bottom.
Add a tablespoon of filling to the middle of the tamale.
Fold the sides in so they overlap, and then fold the top and bottom in, and place on a cookie sheet or plate seam-side down. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Cooking the tamales:

Prepare a steamer with 3 inches of water, and drop a coin in the bottom. (As the tamales steam, the coin will stop rattling if the steamer is dry. Add more water in this case.)
Line the bottom of the steamer with extra corn husks.
Stand the tamales up in the steamer insert, working carefully so they don�t come apart.
Cover with more extra corn husks, place a dish towel over the top, and cover with lid.
Let water boil and steam for about an hour or until the dough is firm and can separate easily from the husk.
Serve hot!